Payphone kiosks could be set to disappear from the streets of Derby to be replaced by single slimline units offering people free phone calls, Wi-Fi access and phone-charging when they are out and about.

Several planning applications have been submitted by BT to Derby City Council for 16 payphones to be removed and five new InLink units to be put in their place.

Eventually, BT intends to remove 28 existing payphones and install a total of 14 InLink units in the city. Priority is given to removal where payphones are underused or damaged

These are the proposed locations of the new InLink units in Derby (Image: InLinkUK/BT)

BT says the new units will help to "de-clutter the street scene across Derby" and that taking away the current suites of payphones will free up more than 49 square metres in pavement space.

The 9-ft high units would give anyone who wanted to use them access to 1GB of free Wi-Fi within 100 metres of the unit, local information and maps, USB ports to charge mobile phones and free phone calls to UK numbers.

BT Inlink units are heading to Derby and replacing payphones - planning applications have been submitted to the city council (Image: InLinkUK)

Each unit has large display screens on each side and small "privacy wings" on the end to give "a sense of personal space without enclosures".

Funding for the machines will come from advertising displayed on tall digital LED screens placed either side of the structure and the city council will be given 5% of every hour of screen time to promote local news, initiatives and events.

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Each unit has a direct 999 call button and BT says this is to give an "improved sense of safety in an area".

BT says the units are accessible to wheelchair users, have Braille embossed information on all key features and high-contrast large type labels for the visually impaired and hearing induction loops for the hard of hearing.

But the units have not been without controversy in some areas of the country where they have already been installed.

BT is hoping removing payphones and replacing them with slimline units will 'de-clutter' the city's streets (Image: InLinkUK)

Last October, Sutton Council decided to throw out the applications saying that the units would clutter the streets, while in Tower Hamlets, the Metropolitan Police has protested to BT after the force claims that 20,000 drug deals had been arranged in three months using the phones, using the free phone facility.

In Bristol, some people have expressed concern that the units have security cameras installed but BT has said it would never activate them without notifying the public.

The evolution of the phone box. K1 - InLink (Image: BT)

And overall, some people are concerned with the large amount of data that the units will acquire through regular usage.

A BT spokesman said: "We believe that the removal of the existing kiosks and the installation of this much smaller InLink structure will improve the overall amenity of the area and not pose an issue for highways safety.

"The units will replace outdated and underused payphones, which attract and encourage anti-social tendencies and raise many public concerns.

"The installation of five units and the removal of 16 existing kiosks will clean up the streets and cement Derby's play as a digital powerhouse."

Comments on the applications are welcomed by the city council planning department, which will make a decision on the proposals in the next eight weeks.